Thousands of parents who help their children on to the property ladder are raiding cash set aside for their retirement to do so.
A fifth of UK parents now help their children to buy their first home, handing them an average of £23 000 (R412 000) each, a survey for housing charity Shelter found.
One in four of those had to cut back on their day-to-day spending to contribute and 20 percent dipped into funds saved up for their retirement and elderly care.
The charity said its study of 4 500 Britons showed the strain being placed on the “Bank of Mum and Dad” after several years of soaring house prices.
Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said this was yet another sign that the housing market was spinning out of control.
“They have to choose between becoming part of the ‘clipped wing generation’, stuck living in their childhood bedrooms, or ‘generation rent’, paying out dead money to landlords,” Robb said.
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said: “The worry is, particularly in the UK where we know people do not put enough money aside for retirement, that they may be storing up financial problems for later.”
Housing Minister and Conservative MP Brandon Lewis said the report did not take account of all the government measures put in place to help aspiring homeowners.
It is believed house prices could fall by £30 000 if Scotland votes for independence in tomorrow’s referendum. – Daily Mail